Community Source is the name given to an development model that attempts to merge the closed development practices of closed source software with the open development practices of open source software foundations such as The Apache Software Foundation, The GNOME Foundation, The Eclipse Foundaiton and The Debian Foundation.

comparison of community source and open source

Similarities

both release code under an OSI approved licence

clear IPR management policies and practices

Differences

All community members are not equal in community source

Some participants are contractually obliged to provide agreed resources

Discussion of the claimed advantages/disadvantages of Community Source

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Similarities

both release code under an OSI approved licence

clear IPR management policies and practices

Differences

All community members are not equal in community source

Some participants are contractually obliged to provide agreed resources

Discussion of the claimed advantages/disadvantages of Community Source

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[FIXME: in this section I have listed what I, Ross Gardler, consider to be (come of) the disadvantages of community source, I have made no attempt to understand and represent the advantages of community source - we need to balance all this up]

having some members more equal than others discourages "voluntary" contributions

interested parties need not be contractually obliged to contribute, if the project is going in the right direction, they will contribute

having made significant contributions organisations expect to have an ongoing control over the project, even when no longer under contractual obligation to contribute

this fosters bad feeling between those who have contributed and those who come in late in order to participate "for free"

providing ongoing decision making power to no longer contributing organisations fosters more bad feeling

project management is stuck between a r"rock and a hard place"

limiting access to resources to the consortium who form the community limits the potential for wider buy-in and thus limits community development in the early stages

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The history of open source

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The history of open source

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Sakai stated life as community source and moved to open source

Kuali appears to have learnt from the problems encountered in sakai and starts projjects as community source but with the express intention of moving to a more open model

Eclipse struggled to move from closed to community source then on to open source

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A closed community source model

some commercial companies have a community source model which provides access to the source code, but it is not free or open

Conclusions

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A closed community source model

some commercial companies have a community source model which provides access to the source code, but it is not free or open

Conclusions

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Resources

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[FIXME: I, Ross Gardler, have deliberately weighted these resources in favour of Community Source since my own experience, and therefore the content I have written above comes from the open source world. Eventually we need to balance this up]